Many enthusiasts of watersport boards enjoy additional speed, challenge, versatility and the like by mounting accessories to the underside of watersport boards, such as surfboards, stand-up paddle boards, skim boards, wake skates, wake surfers, and the like. Accessories include hydrofoils, electric propulsion systems, fins, fin boxes, and the like. Other accessories include cameras, and the like.
Typically, fins and hydrofoils are provided as accessories that can be attached at a desired destination because the fins and hydrofoils, as well as other accessories, are cumbersome to transport, for example in a vehicle. At the same time, the forces exerted on the fins and hydrofoils can be quite strong in use. Accordingly, a strong mounting system is required to maintain the accessory in position in use in the ocean, for example.
A variety of devices have been developed for mounting accessories for watersport boards. The majority of the devices require first creating a recess in the underside of the board for receiving the accessory. For example, US2016028882A1 (Scott et al) show a fin plug for water craft. The top surface of the fin plug, also referred to as a fin box, has a cavity for receiving the base of a fin. The bottom of the fin box is an extension for holding the fin box in a recess in the water craft. In the disclosed method for installing the fin plug, Scott et al require using a router to carve a “plug hole” into the underside of the water craft to mount the fin plug into the hole, so that the top surface of the fin plug is flush with the underside of the board. Scott et al then apply fiberglass and a coating of resinous material over the top surface to hold the fin plug in place in the board.
Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 9,457,877B2 (Chung) describe a fin box that is inserted into the body of the watercraft. The fin box requires a recess to be cut into the underside of the watercraft. And U.S. Pat. No. 9,242,707B2 (Yeh) also describes embedding a fin box into the body of a board.
The systems and others like it allow a fin to be detached after use for transport. However, the recess cut into the board can compromise the strength of the board itself. Watersport boards are often made of a foam core wrapped in fiberglass and resin. Cutting into the watersport board therefore “breaks” the shell of the board and many designs therefore rely solely on the foam core which does not have the strength of the fiberglass/resin shell. Accordingly, users are often forced to reinforce and/or modify the board construction to ensure strength around the mounting location.
Furthermore, while the fin boxes described above can support fins of different attributes or a new fin if the original is damaged, they are limited to the specific fin for which the fin box is designed. And further, the position of the accessory is typically then limited by the fin box installation position. Accordingly, a user is not able to readily change the position of the accessory.
There is a need for a mounting system that can be installed relatively easily. There is also a need for a mounting system that is adaptable to a wide variety of accessories for watersport boards. Further, there is a need for a mounting system that does not compromise the integrity of the watersport board, while at the same time being sufficiently strong enough to support the accessory during use.